Planning Synop final nationwide.doc

C- Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity Contract for Architect/Engineer Services for Conservation Planning Services for Work in the United States, Saipan, Guam and the Caribbean.

Synopsis:

Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity Contract for Architect/Engineer (A-E) Services for Conservation Planning Services for Work in the United States, Saipan, Guam and the Caribbean.

Description: ALL INFORMATION NEEDED FOR INTERESTED PARTIES TO SUBMIT A STANDARD FORM (SF) 330, ARCHITECT ENGINEER QUALIFICATIONS IS CONTAINED HEREIN. THERE IS NO SEPARATE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) PACKAGE TO DOWNLOAD.

1. CONTRACT INFORMATION: This competitive procurement is a TOTAL SMALL BUSINESS SET ASIDE. This RESTRICTED procurement is for a Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract for A-E services for conservation planning, NRCS water resource and non-water resource related projects. Work will be ordered via firm-fixed price Task Orders. At least 50% of the cost of contract performance incurred for personnel shall be expended for employees of the prime contractor for work on these contracts.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is responsible for providing technical assistance to entities of state and local governments and tribes (project sponsors) for planning and installing watershed projects under the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act (WPFPA, Public Law 83-566) , Flood Control Act of 1944 (Public Law 78-534), and other conservation programs. The projects include planning conservation measures for flood prevention; conservation, development, utilization and disposal of water; and the conservation and proper utilization of land on defined areas (usually hydrologic watersheds). Conservation measures might include, but are not limited to levees, dikes, floodways, floodwater diversions, flood control dams (including rehabilitation or decommissioning of existing dams), flood proofing or relocating floodplain properties, measures to increase or conserve water supplies and improve water quality, sediment control and land stabilization measures, water control structures, flumes, canals, water supply reservoirs, pumping plants, wetlands; and any other measures or practices from the National Handbook of Conservation Practices and related NRCS Technical Materials or accepted by the engineering and ecologic science professions that would improve water management for improved agricultural efficiency and protection and restoration of natural resources. Water resource projects are those projects governed by the Economic and Environmental Principles and Guidelines for Water and Related Land Resources Implementation Studies (P&G). Non-water resource projects include, but are not limited to watershed protection, land treatment, habitat restoration and ecosystem restoration projects.

The purpose of this solicitation is to supplement the NRCS efforts under PL 83-566, and other conservation programs. Firms selected under this combined synopsis/solicitation must have demonstrated professional knowledge and experience in the planning and analysis of alternatives for dams and other water resource related structures (engineering and environmental), conservation planning for protection/restoration of natural resources, as well as the capability of performing work nationwide, providing quick turn-around on proposals for task orders with as many as five simultaneous task orders per firm.

Projects may be located in any of the 48 contiguous states, Alaska, Hawaii, Saipan, Guam, and the Caribbean. The Caribbean consists of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Completion of task orders must be performed by qualified personnel where the project is located. If the task order is to perform all or part of a watershed plan, it is anticipated that the task manager will generally be a licensed professional engineer who will be responsible for signing documents required by the task order. The offeror will be required to provide documentation that supports their capability to provide these services.

The primary geographic area covered by this contract encompasses the Continental United States (CONUS), Alaska, Hawaii, Saipan, Guam, and the Caribbean. This multiple award contract will result in up to a maximum of four (4) Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts each for a base period of one year and four one-year option periods for a maximum of five years. The combined total amount that may be paid under these contract(s) (including option years) will not exceed $30,000,000. The guaranteed minimum for each contractor is established at $10,000 for the entire contract term (including option years). The options may be exercised within the time frame specified in the resultant contract at the sole discretion of the Government subject to work load and/or satisfaction of the A-E performance under the subject contract. There will be no dollar limit per task order, and no dollar limit per year up to a combined maximum of $30,000,000 for all contract(s) for the entire term. The Contracting Officer will consider the following and other relevant factors in deciding which Contractor will be selected to negotiate an order: performance and quality of deliverables under the current contract; current capacity to accomplish the task order in the required time; uniquely specialized experience; geographic location; and equitable distribution of work among Contractors. Up to five (5) Task Orders may be issued concurrently. The Government makes no representation as to the number of task orders or the actual amount of work to be ordered.

2. PROJECT INFORMATION: The primary task under this contract is developing and documenting the planning process, including but not limited to collecting field data, analyzing data, comparing environmental effects of engineering alternatives. Tasks will develop all or part of a planning document for compliance with NEPA including the environmental, economic and social effects of a project. Tasks may be limited solely to performance of the NEPA analysis. Water resource plans will typically be completed within the following timeframes depending on the extent of environmental analysis:

· Plans with Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) - 24 months

· Plans with Environmental Assessment (EA) - 12 months, and

· Plans classified as Categorically Excluded actions - 9 months.

Projects involve protection of natural resources including soil and/or water resource related structures. Responses should include staff personnel and proposed sub-consultants for all disciplines including civil, structural, agricultural, hydraulic, hydrologic, environmental, and geotechnical engineering; cultural resources, geology, economics and environmental specialists. Other task types may include watershed plan reviews, new technical guidelines and procedures, and provide or develop technical training.

Planning activities will generally include coordination with local project sponsors and NRCS, assisting with public participation activities, including public participation plans, public meetings and other public and interagency reviews, addressing review comments and assisting NRCS with any needed interagency consultation and mitigation. Assistance in public participation or other public meetings is anticipated to be primarily serving as a technical resource.

Task orders will be under the direction of a licensed professional engineer registered in the state where the project is located unless exempted by specific Task Order. Investigation work shall be completed by individuals qualified in accordance with the appropriate NRCS and state standards or regulations. Tasks may include, but are not limited to: obtaining and reviewing existing engineering and environmental data, site visits, hydrologic evaluations, hydraulic evaluations, breach analysis including developing a breach inundation map, surveys, analysis using LIDAR data, preparation of land-rights maps, engineering investigations, cultural resource investigations, environmental investigations, identifying and quantifying resource problems to be addressed, determination of conceptual alternatives that meet current NRCS national and state standards or other professional standard if NRCS and state standards are not available and estimated cost for each alternative based on recent awards for similar types of work and engineering judgment, cost of removal, flood-proofing or raising at-risk structures within the flood zones to the extent that removal, flood-proofing or raising is a practical alternative.

Planning documents shall be in accordance with the NRCS policy as stated in the National Watershed Manual (as amended), General Manual, National Engineering Manual (NEM), National Engineering Handbook (NEH), National Planning Procedures Handbook, National Handbook of Conservation Practices, P&G, National Environmental Compliance Handbook (NECH), National Cultural Resources Procedures Handbook (NCRPH), National Resource Economics Handbook (NREH), NRCS recognized and approved computer models for economic, hydrologic, hydraulic, and environmental evaluation, and technical references found in the Technical Releases and Technical Notes. Additional references and guidelines pertinent to the project may include resources from ASTM, ACI, ASCE, ICC, AWWA, USACE, USBR, or other government or industry sources. Other professional standards considered current standard professional or industry practice can be used with NRCS concurrence. NRCS policy and technical documents can be found at: http://policy.nrcs.usda.gov/ Water resource plans will include allocations of installation costs to the various NRCS National Watershed Program purposes and will show the basis of such allocations and whether National Economic Development (NED) benefits exceed NED costs. P&G procedures will be used to identify alternative project NED benefits and NED costs.

Task orders may include options for the selected firm(s) to provide independent review(s) of water resource planning documents to assure technical, procedural, and editorial accuracy, as well as compliance to all applicable laws, executive orders, Codified Federal Rules (CFR), in accordance with NRCS policy. The firm(s) will prepare a detailed review report containing all discrepancies and recommended corrections. The typical timeframe to complete a planning document review and detailed review report is four weeks.

Task orders may include options for the selected firm(s) to update existing NRCS technical materials or develop new technical guidelines and procedures.

Task orders may include options for the selected firm(s) to develop and/or provide training for water resource planning or specified portions of the water resource planning process to NRCS employees.

All material associated with the planning documents will be provided in electronic format and hard copies. Electronic submissions must be compatible with Microsoft Office 2007 programs, Adobe Acrobat 9, AutoCad Map 2008 or 2009, and ArcGIS 9.2. Electronic copies, original hard copies and copies for distribution are to be furnished to NRCS. All material used to document the planning process will be treated as Personally Identifiable Information and will become the property of the NRCS.

3. SELECTION CRITERIA: The selection criteria are listed below. Criteria A-D are in descending order of importance with Criteria A more important than Criteria B, and Criteria B more important than Criteria C and D. Criteria C and D are of equal importance. Criteria E is secondary and will only be used as a tie breaker among the most highly qualified technically equal firms.

A. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE AND TECHNICAL COMPETENCE. Specialized experience and technical competence of the prime firm and any subcontractors or partners and their key personnel in the types of work and task orders listed above. Considerations will include knowledge and experience within the last five years in: preparation of watershed plans with environmental assessments; preparation of watershed plans with environmental impact statements; technical reviews of flood prevention and other water resource related projects; dam assessments; completion of analyses using LIDAR data; preparation of technical guidelines and procedures; and development and provision of technical training related to water resource planning. Demonstrated experience completing or reviewing watershed plans following NRCS National Watershed Manual, NEM, NEH, P&G, NEPA, NECH, NCRPH, TR-60, and NERH guidelines will be used as a tie breaker among the most highly qualified technically equal firms. Prime firm's experience will be weighted more heavily than subcontractor's experience. B. PAST PERFORMANCE. Past performance on preparation and/or review of water resource related projects, using LIDAR data with respect to quality of work, development of technical guidance, procedures and training courses and materials, compliance with performance schedules and cost control will be reviewed. Indication of favorable performance ratings, awards, and repeat clientele in Section H of the SF 330 is recommended. Evaluation of this factor will be based on the past performance data from the projects presented in Section F of the SF 330 (provide references and current phone numbers) from the past five years relative to timeliness, budget control and technical success. C. MANAGEMENT APPROACH AND KEY PERSONNEL. Considerations will include: the ability of the firm and any sub-contractors or partners to provide engineering and other services nationwide; the firm's approach to providing high quality deliverables in a timely manner; clear presentation of the firm's management structure including leadership assignments, responsibilities, lines of communication, a licensed engineer in each state, etc.; and professional qualifications of the key personnel, including professional registration, advanced degrees, and recognized designations of industry professional organizations. Evaluation will be based upon the number of qualified personnel; their knowledge and level of experience associated with the types of work listed above; and the ability to provide cost proposals within five (5) business days of receiving a task order request. The evaluation will also include the firm's ability to meet the completion schedules. D. CAPACITY. Considerations will include: the overall capacity of the prime and any subcontractors or partners' capacity to perform the work in the required time; demonstrated ability to use quality control procedures and tools to insure quality products; the ability to perform and monitor multiple task orders simultaneously with as many as 5 simultaneous task orders; demonstrated ability to adhere to schedules; and sufficient technical resources to undertake the potential and current workloads. Evaluation will be based on the number of personnel available in the various technical disciplines, the quantity of existing work under contract, the schedules for completing the existing work and abilities to deliver quality products on a timely basis. E. SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION. Extent of participation of Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, HUBZone small businesses, women-owned businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, historically black colleges and universities, and minority institutions in the proposed contract team, measured as a percentage of the total estimated effort.

All firms submitting must be registered with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR); registration can be completed on-line at http://www.ccr.com. Representations and Certifications must be completed electronically via the Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) website at http://orca.bpn.gov within the last 12 months.

4. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Firms responding to this announcement before the closing date will be considered for selection, subject to any limitations indicated, specialized technical expertise or other requirements listed. Interested firms having the capabilities to perform this work must submit (5) current complete Standard Form 330s (SF 330, REV 6/2004), Architect-Engineer Qualifications, Parts I and II, and any supplemental data which documents the firm's qualifications. The entire SF 330 qualifications package is limited to 50 (8.5" x 11") pages, not including Section E, Resumes or Part II - General Qualifications. Front and back side use of a single page will count as 2 pages. The SF330s shall not use smaller than 12 font type. Indicate in Section C.11 if the prime has worked with the team members in the past 5 years. Resumes in Section E shall not exceed one page each. Example projects in Section F shall not exceed 2 pages each. In Section G.26, include the firm with which each of the key personnel is associated. Section H.30 shall include a discussion/specific examples of why the firm is especially qualified based upon the specific selection criteria listed in Section 3, SELECTION CRITERIA. Cover letters and extraneous materials (brochures, etc.) will not be considered. Deliver the five copies of the SF 330 for prime and any proposed sub-consultants to Robert Terry, Contracting Officer, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, MS 5460, Beltsville, MD 20705. The forms must be received in this office no later than12:30 PM on _May 17, 2010. Facsimile transmissions will not be accepted. Solicitation packages are not provided and no additional project information will be given to firms during the announcement period. This is NOT a Request for Proposals.

Contracting Office Address

Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service

5601 Sunnyside Avenue, MS 5460 Beltsville, MD 20705

Original Point of Contact

Robert H. Terry, Jr. Contracting Officer, 301-504-2167, robert.terry@wdc.usda.gov Place of Performance